SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 213 



of the Indiamen consists of a straw hat, close 

 jacket with short sleeves, of different dark- 

 coloured coarse woollen or leather, and a 

 short pair of breeches, open at the knees, also 

 of leather, sometimes of the skin of goats, or of 

 the peccary, with the hair side outwards. 

 Under this are worn full calico trowsers, 

 reaching to the middle of the leg, with sandals 

 of leather on the feet, much in the form of 

 the ancient Romans. The women appear in 

 lktle more than a petticoat and short jacket, 

 with their long raven-like tresses plaited on 

 each side of the head with red tape. When 

 seated on the ground for hours in the market- 

 place, exposed to the sun, I have often seen 

 them place a cabbage, or other large leaf, on 

 their heads, to defend them from its influence. 

 They are generally clean in their appearance, 

 and orderly and modest in their behaviour. 

 Indians are seldom seen on horseback, or walk- 

 ing, on the roads ; their ordinary pace being 



